Helmut Zemo (Earth-11584)
History "Killing them was never the point. It would just make them into martyrs and more would rise to take their place. But them destroying each other? That might be a schism that they couldn't heal from." Josef Helmut Zemo is a former Colonel in the Sokovian military, specializing in intelligence and special operations. Growing up in the fractured Eastern European republic of Sokovia, which was perpetually at war with either the Soviet Union, various Eastern Bloc countries, or most specifically it's neighbor Latveria, Zemo learned to care for himself at a very young age, roaming the streets as a petty thief for much of his childhood (due to his mother's absence and his father's inattentiveness.) In and out of prison a few times, Zemo was eventually given a chance to avoid a life of perpetual crime in joining the Sokovian military. He availed himself on the front lines in several battles, eventually joining and gaining command of a special group of special operations commandos with the codename of Echo Scorpion. One mission that Zemo attempted while with this unit was an attempt on the new Latverian dictator, a man known only as Doom. This plot ultimately failed, but Doom spared the commandos for their tenacity. Upon the war with Latveria once again entering a ceasefire, Zemo settled down to a normal life in Sokovian intelligence, marrying a woman and having at least one child. In this line of work he learned of HYDRA's work within Sokovia's borders, but was powerless to stop it from happening. However, he was able to intercept several communiques between Baron Strucker, the Red Skull, and other HYDRA cells around the world. Intrigued by this clan destine group, he was preparing to confront them at their base when the Avengers first arrived at Novi Grad to take out the HYDRA base. His chances of gaining more information on the group shot, Zemo continued deciphering several different communiques he had already intercepted, including an intriguing one that led him to learn of the role in the still fugitive "Winter Soldier" in several high profile assassinations over the last several decades, including that of Howard and Maria Stark. One morning, however, Zemo was drafted back into active duty when the Avengers arrived with a warning that Ultron was planning an attack. Zemo sent his wife and child to stay with his father, who lived outside the city, thinking that they would be safe, before aiding SHIELD and the Avengers in attempting to stop Ultron from destroying the world. Ultimately they were successful, however Zemo's family were killed by the aftershocks of the destruction of Ultron's earthquake machine, their bodies lying in the rubble of his father's farm still clinging to one another. Through clan destine means, Zemo obtained a book that contained the codewords to unlock the HYDRA programming within the Winter Soldier. Studying it as quickly as he could, Zemo was forced to expedite his plans for the Winter Soldier when someone else (apparently someone posing as him) triggered the Winter Soldier into blowing up a UN conference in Vienna to sign the Avengers Protocols. Zemo traveled to Budapest when Barnes was captured, killing a hired psychologist named Dr. Mueller and taking his place in order to get close to Barnes, use the trigger words, and learn exactly where he had been kept before setting him loose on the Avengers. Zemo traveled to Siberia where he found what he was looking for, along with five other super soldiers who could serve as HYDRA assassins. Killing the assassins (which acted conveniently as a Maguffin to lure Captain America, Bucky, Iron Man and the Black Panther to his location), Zemo lured them into the bunker and then played for Tony Stark video footage of his parents murder at the hands of Barnes, turning Stark on Barnes and Rogers before slinking away. Zemo was confident in his plan having irreparably destroying the Avengers, and then attempted to kill himself before being stopped and apprehended by the Black Panther. He remains incarcerated to this day. Powers & Abilities * Master Spy: As a Sokovian Intelligence Officer and Commando, Zemo was well-skilled in various tactics of espionage, including kidnapping and impersonating a SHIELD psychologist, procuring a book with the trigger words for the Winter Soldier, and learning of Barnes' role in the murder of Howard & Maria Stark. He also, by assumption, skilled in various combat tactics as well, though this has never been displayed. * Language Master: Zemo speaks several different languages, including English, Hungarian, German and Russian (though the latter of these he was not fluent in). Weaknesses Zemo possesses no special abilities that grant him protection from normal harm. He also appears to be suicidal to a certain degree on account of his family's deaths during the Battle of Sokovia. Film Details Helmut Zemo appears in the following films within the Earth-11584 continuity. In all cases he is portrayed by actor Daniel Bruhl. * Captain America: Civil War (2016) Category:Earth-11584 Category:Earth-11584 Characters Category:Bad Characters